A Different Kind of Insanity
by 0-MrDragon-0
Summary: Is insanity just another point of view? Alice Longbottom's POV oneshot


I wanted to write something different to other people so I came up with this. I can't take full credit because I got part of the idea from my English class but most of it is mine. Thanx.

**A Different Kind of Insanity**

"There is a fine line between Genius and Madness"

The frail woman sat in the rickety chair beside her bed staring at the ceiling. A healer approached her and tried to coax her into eating some breakfast but Alice ignored her and continued to stare at the ceiling. The healer gave a defeated sigh and performed a simple charm to keep Alice nourished.

The healer then turned around and slipped out through the doors at the end of the ward, stopping merely to wave a goodbye to the patients, a falsely cheery smile fixed upon on her face. But once outside the ward her facade dropped and she pressed a hand wearily to her head. It was just another day at the magical hospital of St Mungos.

Back in the ward Alice turned her head to watch the fan in the corner, mouthing to herself as she did so. An hour passed and still the fan went, whirr whirr whirr, as Alice's milky eyes watched the process. Though no one could see, Alice's brain was working furiously.

The fan's blades rotated at exactly thirty-two point four turns a minute, the power behind the fan was forty-five watts. There were ninety-seven roof tiles adorning the roof of the ward.

Alice shifted her gaze around the ward. The pot plant beside Deitriota's bed had three stems and each stem produced seventeen leaves. Alice's bed had fifty-three wrinkles on it and there were fourteen rings holding up the curtain beside the bed.

Looking down at her hands Alice gave a ghost of a smile. Her nails were precisely zero point nine centimetres long, she had chewed them carefully each day.

Then came the familiar clack of heels, Alice knew by instinct that the heels would be meeting the floor at an angle of eighty-six degrees. The healers face came into sight, she had four gold teeth and had three blue veins showing in her wrists.

"Alice love! Your mother-in-law and your son are here to see you!"

The healer stepped back and turned ninety-seven degrees to face Neville and Augusta Longbottom, her voice rang out at two hundred and twenty decibels, "Have fun!" Then she stepped smartly out of the ward.

As Alice turned to watch a fly buzzing at the window, its wings beating at three hundred and fifty-two times a minute, Neville approached cautiously, "Hello Mum?"

Alice stared at the source of the voice, then picking up her hairbrush she began humming tunelessly as she shuffled over to Neville. Still humming, she ran the brush roughly through his hair. Neville winced but didn't say anything as she continued to deliver the harsh strokes.

Suddenly deciding that that was enough she shuffled back to her chair and sat down, dropping the brush onto her bedside cabinet. The older woman now approached her and began waffling about something or other but Alice didn't care. What Alice did care about was that the woman had sixty-four lines on her face and the boy stood at a height of five foot nine inches.

Alice carefully unwrapped a Drooble's Best Blowing Gum and throwing the sweet away carelessly she cradled the wrapper in her hands, like a precious treasure. Beckoning the boy forward she placed the wrapper delicately into his outstretched hands, smiling to herself in a satisfied way. The boy now had five hundred and seventy of the four by three centimetre pieces of foil.

The boy whispered his thanks but Alice had started humming again, reaching for her hairbrush as she pulled open the bottom drawer of her bedside cabinet. The bottom of the drawer was lined with human hair and Alice began pulling the boy's hair off the brush.

She had managed to collect nineteen hairs from him today and cooed in satisfaction as she added them to her collection of three thousand and forty-three hairs from his head.

Pushing the drawer back into place Alice looked up at the boy and saw that five lines had appeared in his brow and his mouth was quivering as he started to speak.

"M-mum. I-I've just c-come here today t-to say g-goodbye," he stuttered but his voice grew stronger as he continued, "I-I have to help Harry fight V-Voldermort and I have to kill Bella. If I never see you again, I love you. A-and it doesn't matter that you're mad."

The boy finished speaking and Alice began to hum again, watching as five tears rolled down his cheeks. The older woman put her arm round the boys shoulder and led him down the ward towards the doors.

Alice looked away and towards the fan in the corner. The blades were still rotating at exactly thirty-two point four turns a second but no one saw the tears that rolled down Alice's withered cheeks.

A/N I hope you enjoyed.


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